Mushroom Soup (Vegetarian)

Feb 6

Written By Agnes Olszowy

To make life easier, click on any underlined items and there is a direct link to purchase - these are the items I swear by…

INGREDIENTS:

1 Yellow Onion

5 Cloves Garlic

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Truffle Oil

2 Teaspoons Salted Butter (I prefer Irish Butter)

64 oz Vegetable Broth/Stock (Low Sodium or Reg depending on preference)

1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt - Fine

2 Tablespoons Low Sodium Soy Sauce

Thyme Sprigs (& twine)

24 oz Fresh Mushrooms (I prefer the ‘mushroom mix’ crimini or gourmet mushroom blend)

2 oz Dried Porcini mushrooms (½ will be set aside for the end)

1 Pack of ‘Soup Vegetable Mix’ - (I do not use the dill or all parsley)

Alternate to the vegetable mix is to use 1 medium carrot, 1 parsnip, 3-4” leeks, 3-4” celery, 1 turnip
If you don’t have the soup mix, add an additional 36-40 oz of mushrooms for a very creamy puree

1 Tablespoon all purpose unbleached flour

½ Cup Heavy cream

2 Tablespoons of sour cream (fat free)

My easiest way to prep and not forget what was already included and in which order, is to peel, cut and portion out everything and line up in a row according to when ingredients are added...Like many of us, I tend to get easily distracted by texts, calls, or my boys :) And find this to be almost foolproof!

While not very sustainable, I also almost always print out the recipe and cross off as I add an ingredient to finish a step

KITCHEN ESSENTIALS FOR THIS RECIPE:

Adjustable Manual Mandoline Slicer (I love this one in particular because you can adjust the thickness of slices… for this soup, I would use thicker option)

Measuring Cups

Vegetable Peeler

Cutting Board

Wide 5- 8 quart pot

Bowl or 32oz Ball Jar

Cuisinart Immersion Hand blender (Any stick hand blender will do or a standard blender - but DO NOT blend hot soup in a standard blender, must wait to cool)

Sharp long knife (not serrated blade)

Wooden spoon

Strainer (I prefer one with a bottom that allows me to stand it in the sink & not hold manually)

PRE-COOKING PREP DIRECTIONS:

Cut onions with mandoline (or chop manually) and garlic (if you prefer to use the jarred garlic, measure out 1 tablespoon)
Wash the fresh mushroom, I cut off the tips of the roots (usually have more residual dirt on them) in a strainer and after few minutes transfer to paper towel to gently dry
Take the dried porcini mushrooms & pour into either a large bowl or 32 oz ball jar - carefully add boiling hot water and set aside, stir initially and soak for about 25 min - stirring occasionally for them to reconstitute to normal size
While the fresh mushrooms are drying and the porcini are growing, cut up the remaining vegetables, not particular size - dice or slice however you prefer
Transfer the fresh, clean & towel dried mushrooms to cutting board, chop for a few minutes - do not worry about getting them to any specific size - you will late puree so this is to chop them so they are all in a close to uniform size to saute
Pour the porcini mushrooms which have been soaking in boiling water into the strainer and rinse with cold water for about a minute (you will see the water goes from light brown to almost clear)
Take about ½ the porcini mushrooms and add to the chopped mushrooms and chop a few more times (put the remaining ½ of the porcini mushrooms alide)
Take a few sprigs of the thyme and tie into a bundle - leave about 6-8” length of string on one side (depends of now deep your pot is) as you will tie this to the handle of your pot, be careful to only leave a very short length of the string side which will be on the outside of the pot so it is far from heat - I usually do not like to leave more than 1” max

NOW FOR THE FUN PART - COOKING!

Heat your pot and add the oils and butter, stirring on high until the butter melts
Carefully add the onions and garlic and continue stirring
Tie the thyme sprigs to the pot handle - again, please be careful and ensure that the long side of the string is INSIDE the pot with the onions and garlic
Start on High heat and alternate between Medium/High for the last 3-5 min depending on your stove temp - Continue to stir the onions & garlic until they are golden brown (about 10 min)
Reduce heat to Medium - Sprinkle in flour little by little continue stirring - I like to do a light sprinkle, stir & repeat two or three times until the onions are not as shiny
With the wooden spoon, push the onion/garlic the the sides so you almost create a well/empty bowl in the pot - slowly add all of your mushrooms into the area & add the salt
Sautee all the mushrooms with the onions & garlic for about 10 minutes until they have reduced in size and look soft - stir frequently and ensure that you are ‘scraping the bottom’ of the pot to get all the yummy flavors included
Carefully add your vegetable broth and soy sauce to the pot at this time (If you are using the additional vegetables, add all the cut up additional vegetables at this time)
Bring this to a rolling boil on high, stirring the bottom frequently so that nothing sticks to the bottom
Turn the burner on med-low so the soup is simmering but not boiling
After about 20 min, I turn the burner on low and cook another 10-15 minutes
Now CAREFULLY take the manual hand blender - before immersing into the hot pot, if you have never done this before, I suggest you take a tall clear glass and full ¾ with water - immerse the blender and turn on to see how high the speed is and if it splatters...If you prefer to wait for the soup to cool for about an hour at room temp you can do so and then use the and blender to puree everything
If you are comfortable with the hand blender, slowly & carefully place the blender into the pot - I place it vertically so that I can reduce any splatter out of the pot...I slowly move the blender around the pot until the soup appears relatively smooth
Add the heavy cream into the soup and again, slowly immerse your hand blender into the soup and repeat the blending until the soup is very smooth and also is a lighter shade (due to the cream)
Once you have the desired smoothness of the soup, add the ‘hand chopped/not pureed’ porcini mushrooms to the pot - these will add more of the mushroom flavor and texture
Upon serving into a bowl, optionally you can add a small dollop of sour cream - for me this adds an additional slight creaminess (& I think it adds to the presentation) - or a drizzle of truffle oil.